Rachel is Assistant Professor in Creativity, Performance and Education at the Centre for Education Studies, University of Warwick. She leads modules on ‘Drama and Theatre in Theory and Practice’ and ‘Drama and Creative Learning’.

From 2011-15, Rachel worked as Senior Teaching Fellow for the MA in Drama and Theatre Education, in the Centre for Education Studies, University of Warwick and, in July 2015, she received a Warwick Award for Teaching Excellence (WATE).

In 2007, she received a Collaborative Doctorate Award (CDA) from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to work in collaboration with Warwick Arts Centre (WAC) and the School of Theatre Studies, University of Warwick under the supervision of Professor Baz Kershaw and Alan Rivett, Director of WAC. Her PhD research developed practice-led methods to investigate the dynamic interactions between notions and perceptions of ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘internationalism’ in relation to WAC’s programming, commissioning and education activities. Having completed her PhD in 2013, she examines the ways drama and theatre-based pedagogies can be used to create hospitable and convivial spaces for interaction between multi-ethnic communities.

Rachel led the UK research site for Professor Kathleen Gallagher’s international, multi-sited and collaborative research project (SSHRC 2014-18) Youth, Theatre, Radical Hope and the Ethical Imaginary: an intercultural investigation of drama pedagogy, performance and civic engagement.

Rachel is delighted to be collaborating on Kathleen’s new project Global Youth (Digital) Citizen-Artists and their Publics: Performing for Socio-Ecological Justice 2019-2024. She begins fieldwork for this project in summer 2020, alongside Dr Bobby Smith (Theatre Studies) and Professor David Mond (Mathematics/Global Sustainable Development).

Rachel has recently completed a City of Culture/GRP funded pilot project investigating the possibilities of co-creating a ‘Story Garden’ in Canley, Coventry. This interdisciplinary project involves practitioners from Chol Theatre and landscape gardener, Hannah Genders. In November 2019, Rachel created a pop up Story Garden in Canley Community Centre as part of the ESRC’s Festival of Social Sciences.

I am a practitioner and researcher committed to exploring social action and change with community groups through arts and performance. Before working in universities, I was a freelance community artist, workshop leader and consultant involved in a range of art-based projects including: violence prevention; work with young people in criminal justice settings; exploring peace and conflict; drugs and sex and relationships education; projects with refugees and migrants. I also devised theatre for and with different groups, including forum theatre about HIV/AIDS and gender-equality, performances for young audiences and work with young people experiencing homelessness. Alongside facilitating and creating projects, I also coordinated and managed several initiatives, trained people in the use of art-based approaches and developed handbooks and resources for several charities. I have been part of projects in the UK, Kenya, Hong Kong, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi.

Currently, I am focussed on research projects which include establishing a network of practitioners and researchers involved in arts and peacebuilding and on Practice as Research with young people to explore the climate crisis.

Through both my teaching and research I hope to examine the claims made for applied and socially engaged performance and support artistic and creative approaches to activism, education, and social action.

Audiences can be educated, informed and challenged as they are given access to places, people, values, ideas and stories through film that would otherwise go unseen. The Lens Change mission is to help organisations create engaging learning resources that support, empower and build resilience in young people’s digital lives.

Our passion lies in helping you harness the power of moving image so that you can get positive messaging to target audiences. With the added advantage of being a full service digital agency (Studio You London), our Camden team can also envision and manage large-scale film projects, educational resource development and ongoing campaigns.

Luke created all of the video pieces available to view in our Resource section.